I Don't Wanna Die

Please check out the AN at the bottom of the page either before or after reading this to get some background on the story.

Dave stood in front of his mirror, pulling down his tunic. Everyone had their own clothes for the fight. His was a red tunic with a gear on the chest, a red cloak and hood, and red pants underneath the tunic. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to put these clothes on. He'd hoped that he could avoid the lottery and live. Of course, only five people in his lifetime had been so lucky. He could see the tent opening behind him in the mirror.

"It's time."

Dave looked at himself one more time as the troll put the handcuffs on him before turning and grabbing his sword, following the troll into the arena.

…

John stood in front of his mirror, pulling down the hood on his cape. Everyone had their own clothes for the fight. His was a blue tunic with wind shapes on the chest, a long blue cape with a hood, blue pants, and yellow shoes. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to put these clothes on. He hoped he could avoid the lottery and live. He was not so lucky. He saw the tent open behind him in the mirror

"It's time."

John looked at himself one more time as the troll put the handcuffs on him before turning and grabbing his hammer, following the troll into the arena.

…

The roar of the crowd was deafening as the two stepped into the arena. Their capes blew behind them as they were forced to the middle of the arena, the trolls who had taken them out of their tents holding the chains on their hands as they walked. The two kept their heads down as they walked, trying to block it all out, pretending it was just a nightmare. Once they got to the center of the arena, the trolls undid their handcuffs and walked away. The two lifted their heads almost in unison, their eyes meeting as they looked up. In the balcony just above the floor of the arena, a servant whispered something into the blind empress' ear. The Highblood grinned and raised her hand, evoking an even louder cry from the crowd. On the arena, the two boys clutched their weapons, getting ready for the fight. The empress lifted her other hand and curled in into a fist, a silence falling over the arena. A few moments passed and the empress lowered her fist, shouting as she did.

"May the fifty seventh annual tournament…BEGIN!" With the final word, the empress threw down her other hand and the crowd began to roar. John mouthed an apology to Dave who replied with a nod before the two charged at each other.

…

The Previous Week

…

Dave stood next to John in the selection area, surrounded by a thousand other nervous humans. Under the screens and posted every twenty feet around the herd of people were the empress' guards, all armed to the teeth. The humans along the edges tried to shy away from the trolls but were pushed back by those around them. A nervous murmur ran through the crowd. A few people were crying, others were trying to comfort their siblings or children who could be chosen for the first time this year. John and Dave stood in silence, waiting for the names to be chosen. John looked over at Dave, trying to read his expression. Last year was the first time in the past three years that a Strider wasn't chosen for the tournament. John opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a loud robotic voice.

"Attention. The selection process is now beginning."

Dave grabbed John's hand and squeezed it. 'It'll be fine. I'm right here,' he mouthed. John smiled and squeezed Dave's hand back.

"Contestant one: Dave Strider."

Dave kept his poker face but John felt him stiffen up. He looked over at Dave, nearly in tears. 'It's okay,' Dave mouthed. 'I'll beat whoever I fight. I'll stay alive for you.' John smiled and turned back to face the screens.

"Contestant two: John Egbert."

Sighs of relief came from everyone in the crowd. Everyone but the two boys standing in the middle of the crowd, hand in hand, matching looks of shock on their faces.

"Will the two contestants come up to the stage."

John's eyes widened in shock as the words printed on the screen sunk in. He felt tears begin to form in the corner of his eyes as he looked over at Dave. Dave was just as shocked, staring at the screen, eyes wide behind his shades.

"Will the two contestants come to the stage." The robotic voice repeated itself, breaking the two from their trance. John let go of Dave's hand and the two slowly began to make their way up to the stage. The crowd parted as they walked, some looking concerned and others giddy with relief at not being chosen. The two boys walked up the stairs to the stage and turned to face the crowd as the robot explained the rules of the tournament they were to enter. John glanced over at Dave who was staring intently at his shoes before looking over the crowd. He found his father first, standing at the back of the crowd, shaking with shock and fear for his son. John gave a weak smile, hoping it would be enough to give his dad hope that he would live. He scanned the crowd again, looking for his sister. He saw her in the middle of the crowd with her head buried in her hands, shoulders raking with sobs. He wanted to run off of the stage and hug her. He probably would have done it had his arm not been grabbed by one of the two trolls on the stage. As the troll pulled him away, he glanced back at Dave who was staring blankly into the crowd, allowing the troll to pull him offstage. He smiled at Dave, hoping it would get some sort of reaction out of his friend. The blond only shook his head and turned away.

…

The Present

….

The crowd was roaring. It had been nearly half an hour since the fight started and the two teens were exhausted. They paused for a second to catch their breaths and met each other's eyes. They both nodded and charged at each other, preparing to swing their weapons. The crowd went crazy.

Thirty seconds later, John lay on the ground, clutching the gash on his side. Dave stood a few feet away from him, panting. Once he caught his breath, Dave walked over to John as the crowd began to chant, shouting at Dave to kill him. Dave reached John, glaring down at him. John closed his eyes as Dave grabbed the hilt of his sword with his other hand. John braced himself for the inevitable pain of Dave's sword driving through his chest. He heard a thud next to him and felt a hot breath on his ear.

"Do you trust me?" Dave whispered. John almost didn't hear it over the shout of confusion coming from the crowd.

"I…yes."

"Then play along." Before John could ask what Dave meant, the blond was walking away from him. Suddenly, Dave turned around to face John again. "Well, why just lie there? Get up and fight me!"

John didn't move, unsure of what he was supposed to do. The crowd had quieted down, the trolls talking amongst themselves, attempting to figure out what was going on.

"Come on, get up! You're still alive and these trolls want a show! Finish this fight, John!"

A few unsure shouts came from the crowd, encouraging John to stand. John slowly began to push himself off of the ground, his face twisted in pain. He fell back to the ground and tried to push himself back up. He heard footsteps coming over towards him and was suddenly pulled up by the hood of his cape. Dave handed him his hammer and backed up, letting John find his balance.

"Now then, let's finish this the proper way." With that, Dave charged at John who weakly held out his hammer, hoping it would catch some of the blow. He shut his eyes, hoping his father and Jade weren't looking.

The crowd gasped, accompanied with a few angry shouts. John slowly opened his eyes and saw Dave standing next to him, his sword through his chest. He smiled at John, a small trail of blood trickling out of his mouth. Slowly, Dave pulled the sword out of his chest and collapsed beside John. John's knees gave out and he knelt beside Dave, rolling him over. John put his hands over the stab, begging Dave to stay with him in between sobs.

"C-congratulations, John. You win." Dave coughed out, blood spilling from his mouth.

"No, no I didn't. This isn't game over. You're going to stay with me, Dave. Don't go." John begged, tears falling onto Dave's shirt.

"John, just…just let me die. You have so much to live for. G-go back to your dad, go to Jade. L-live knowing you'll never have to do this again."

"I'm not letting you die!" John shouted, pulling Dave's cape over the wound.

"I'm already dead, John."

John shook his head and threw his arms over Dave, sobbing into his chest. He shot up and looked down at Dave, his face set with determination.

"If you can't live, I won't let you die on your own." John reached for Dave's sword and held it against his stomach.

"John, no!" Dave flung his arm at John, trying to knock the sword out of his hands. "You can't do this! You have the rest of your life to live!"

"If it means I have to live without you, I don't want to live that life." John put a hand on Dave's cheek, moving his hand up to slide off Dave's sunglasses.

"You are incredibly stupid, John." Dave smiled and reached up to grab John's hand, entwining their fingers. John leaned down and kissed Dave, sliding the sword into his chest. All around them, the crowd booed as John lay next to Dave, their hands clenched together.

"I love you." John whispered, moving his head to rest his forehead on Dave's.

"Love you too, John." Dave answered softly, barely audible over the angry cries and boos coming from the crowd. With the little strength he had left, Dave leaned in and kissed John again. The crowds screamed, knowing that because of these two boys, the human race would never be calm. There would be riots. There would be rebellion, all because two boys refused to live without each other.

As the crowd shouted, Dave pulled away but let his forehead stay on John's. They exchanged weak smiles before taking their last breaths.

…

AN: Okay, so this one was based on the song I Don't Wanna Die by Hollywood Undead. The idea was floating around and I Finally got around to writing it.

Okay, important notes about this story:

Humanity was enslaved by the trolls, which was in the summary but whatever. This is an AU where Sburb never existed and the trolls managed to enslave the earth by communicating with the humans, posing as other humans and gathering information that way. Then they revealed themselves by coming onto earth and basically fucking shit up. WOO! ANYWAY, so they kinda recreated Earth to their liking. Forests were cleared, species were wiped out, new species were born, etc., etc. Now, one of the Troll's things was they couldn't deal with all the humans. So they killed about 75% of the population and relocated the rest to a very small area. Like, small city type area to hold the remaining 25% of the human population. Needless to say, many died due to lack of resources, human on human murder, and disease. The ones who remained were entered in a tournament which I hope needs no explaining. Any questions, just leave them in a review :3

THE BLIND EMPRESS IS NOT TEREZI. OKAY, okay. We're cool.

John and Dave were dating before this so…yeah. DRAMATICNESS WAS FOR A REASON! No Romeo and Juliet story. Seriously. No.

ANYWAY…I'm actually thinking of making this a series. Like, what happened after John and Dave's little show with the kiss and suicides and such. What will happen to Jade and Dad? Where is Rose? What about the Alpha kids? What about the beta trolls? Alpha trolls? I dunno. What do you guys think? Should I do it?

FINALLY THIS LONG ASS AN IS OVER!

So…final words. Reviews are lovely. Feedback appreciated. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM PLEASE! *disclaimer that I'm 14 years old and have no life experience so…yeah*

Have a lovely day 3